Christmas Letter

2009 has been a busy year!
BUSY is not our style… but we like what’s been keeping us busy:

Tori- She turned four in June and in the Fall officially started preschool.
Siah- He turned two in October and never stops unless he is asleep.
Adoption- We are officially licensed through the California foster/adoption system and just waiting for a placement. We’ve requested a boy or girl younger than Josiah. However, if you ask Tori- it depends on how the day is going with her very loud and active little brother. She’s known to say, “I’ve had enough BOY time today,” and follow-up that statement with, “I’d like a baby sister, NOT another baby brother.”
Infrastructure- To prepare for our 3rd child, we bought a minivan (something we never thought we would do!) We are also in the process of adding another bedroom and bathroom to our home (adoption rules). Jeff has done almost all the work himself. It’s been a very tedious process but he has done an amazing job.
Fun - We vacationed with friends and family at Hume Lake, San Diego, Bass Lake, and Yosemite. On September 4, 2009 we celebrated our 10 year anniversary and enjoyed some time away from the kiddos in beautiful Santa Barbara.

Hope you enjoyed the Yosemite photo this year. We (oh, let’s be honest here… it was Bethany’s plan, not Jeff’s ) wanted to take our family Christmas card photo in front of our newly painted yellow home but as time went quickly by I decided to eliminate some of the unnecessary things on my to-do list. I realized that I needed to refocus and truly enjoy this Christmas season. Dropping the picture idea was only one of the many things dropped from my list. I’ve realized that when I get too busy I lose sight of what is really important… the gifts do not make Christmas, the food only adds unnecessary pounds, the traditions are fun, but what is this really all about? It’s about a baby born over 2000 years ago who came to change this world. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your strength & with all your mind; and love others as yourself.” Luke 10:27

This question has been on our minds a lot lately… “Do we love others as ourselves?” Sure, our friends and family, but what about those “others” we don’t know. What about those in difficult situations that we don’t understand or relate too. We live in such a wealthy nation that it’s hard to fathom that life is not like this for a majority of those living in this world. When faced with the reality… we get overwhelmed and honestly just want the problem to go away. However, if we turn off the TV, turn the page, or simply stop listening… the problem doesn’t go away. Lately Jeff and I have been asking ourselves, “What more can we do?” We’re trying to refocus our priorities and instead spend minimally and give generously but more importantly share with others what it means to, “love God and love others as yourself.” We hope that our lives are a testament to the love God has shown us. Our prayer is that when you interact with us you see Jesus as He intended to be known. That we inspire you not to “be religious” or to “go to church” but to instead seek or deepen your personal relationship with Jesus. Hopefully our lives prompt you to ask, “Why do you do what you do?” “What inspires you to love others?” In reply we want to truly answer, “Jesus!”

Happy Birthday Jesus! Our blogsite: cofferclan.blogspot.com

Love the Coffer Family